James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Plein-air painting on the sidewalks of midtown Manhattan is a baptism by fire. You're jostled by the crowds, hustled by street people, choked by diesel fumes, and deafened by sirens. Shadows from the high rises sweep rapidly across any scene you choose.

(Link to video) On Thursday, Jeanette and I joined our friend Garin Baker to paint New York City's landmark Grand Central Terminal. Garin's summer intern, Sean Oswald, visiting from Ohio, accompanied us on the expedition.

Here is my oil painting (left) next to Garin's on the right. This is the second painting that Garin completed within the four hours that we allowed ourselves. The video finishes with a sketch that I did of a passenger on the train. More on that tomorrow.
-----Garin Baker Fine ArtSean Oswald teacher interview

I wonder how many people assumed you were some no name street artist that just picked up a paint brush. lol Amusing....and the amount of moving objects in the scene would drive me crazy! That takes some kind of focus..

I just want to add to everyone else's sentiment and say that I really enjoyed the video. I appreciate the heck out of it and hope you can do more of them despite the fact that I'm sure it took a lot of effort and time - It gave a whole new level of intimacy and understanding to both your life and workflow - thanks for sharing!! X O X O X O-Robb

Fantastic video. One of the many highlights for me was your great Mobil shirt James. I'm jealous!

Those high buildings brought to mind a question about something you (I think) mentioned long, long ago. That is, the effective field of vision angle (i.e. measured vertically) that one can - or should - hope to include in a landscape. Can you please review that?

Also, what was Garin's support for his larger piece - was it paper, or canvas taped to board? It appeared to be buckling a bit in one of the later shots.

Andy, I remember those great old American Artist articles (and books) that compared how different artists interpreted the same subjects. I loved those, too.

Tom, I think Garin was using a gray-primed canvas taped to a super-thick piece of foam core board. About the "pyramid of vision," I usually try to keep to about a 20 - 30 degree sector, and match the panel size to that size view. Here's the post: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/search?q=cone+of+vision.

David and Robert: Yes, that's me talking about the colors. I'm using a "starved" or limited palette of burnt sienna, pyrrole red, raw umber, and white. I left out yellow and green in order to keep the focus on the red-blue dynamic. You're right: I had to try to force yellow out of tints of raw umber or burnt siena. Color is all relative. If I were to use all the colors, there's a risk of the picture getting "jangly."

The shirt is a remnant of my days painting animation backgrounds. It's an old gas station shirt that I got at a second-hand uniform store. It reminds me of the days when gas station guys used to give you maps and clean your windshield.

KWM: We were a long ways from Wall Street, but I was thinking it would be fun to be down there or down in Union Square painting the people there.

Robb, Florante, Dan, Ezra, Industrial: Glad you enjoyed the video. It was fun and not that hard to put together. Ray, I was trying to capture the craziness of being on location there.

Just wonderful stuff, Jim. I love the imagination it took to conceive the project, travel, allow for variations to the plan, and produce the video, allowing for all variations. So well done. And great examples of plein air work. And, yes, "Al" -- I loved the shirt. :-)

Again, great video, a wonderful and typically generous gift to us all.

James, it struck me this morning that the video points out how thickly you work in oils when doing plein air, as opposed to your illustration work, in which you generally work thinly, with Liquin as a medium - if I have that right. What, if any, medium do you use in plein air (and why that choice)? I see two cups, but of course one could be empty.

Great video, James!(How much do you want for your painting?)I love the use of atmospheric perspective to enhance the GC entrance being forward in the scene.Limiting your palette is a great concept I must remember to employ myself more often.Cheers - John

Wow! And I think plein air painting out in the quiet countryside is a challenge just to capture a scene before the light changes. The noise and bustle in NYC's belly of the whale must take super-powers of concentration.

Hey James - How often should the studio painter get out of his studio to do plein air painting? What is a good way for him to fit plein air painting into his schedule when he relies on studio paintings for income? What percentage of your painting time is outdoors as opposed to indoors?

Hi, Ezra, Great to hear from you. Those are hard questions for me to answer, because I don't know what works for other people. It all depends the individual and their goals. My own sketching practice isn't a regular thing, and I don't do it according to any schedule.